Improved mode of making wicks



c yarn into the required form.

'to dry without pressure.

ANTONIO Mascot, or CLIFTON, ASSIGNOR To WM. E. RIDER, or new YORK, N; Y..

llVlPROVED 'MODE 0F MAKlNG WlCKS.

Specification forming part ot'LetterslPutent No. d6,4i7, dated February 28, 1865.

To all whom it may coacema" i Be it known that I, ANTONIO Manner, of Clifton, in the county of Richmond and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Wicking for Lamps, and for other purposes to whichit may be applicable; and I do hereby declare that the following is a lull, clear, and exact description of my said invention and of the mode of making the same.

Lam p-wicks have usually been manufactured ot' fibrous material-such as cotton--by spinning it into yarn and weaving or plaiting the The raw material required for such a mode of manutzacture is costly and the labor involved in the manufacture is considerable.

The object of my invention is to produce alamp-wick which will cost a materially less sum than thcwoven or plaited wicks; and-my invention consists of a wick or wicking of recomposed vegetablefibcr prepared and agglomerated by a process similar to that used in manufacturing paper from vegetable material; The several modes lll'WlllCll I have contem plated the application of the principle or character by which my invention may be distinguished from other inventions are as follows: The vegetable fiber ,which I employ in the production of my new manufacture is paper-pulp made from wood or any other suitable material-such as straw, cotton, or linen rags and paper clippings. I employ this pulp in the wet state, in which it is used for the manufac' ture of paper, and I spread a quantity of it evenly upon a sheet of metallic gauze, in the same manner as is practiced in the manufacture of paper by hand, the metallic gauze being sustained bya frame of wood or in any other suitable manner. If fiat wicks for kero scne-lamps are required, the quantity of pulp should be 'sufiicient to produce (when drained and dried) a sheet of a thickness of about oneeighth of an inch, more or less, which it the usual thickness of woven wicks. The sheet of wet fiber is drained of water and is'permitted It is then cutinto strips of the required length and breadth for wicks. r l

. Wicks produced in the above mode are not as tenacious as is desirable. In order to im-l part to them the desirable tenacity, I envelop them with bobbinet or similar gauze made of cotton by cutting the bobbinet into strips of sufificient breadth to encircle the wicks and permit their edges to be slightly overlapped, dampening the strlps,'wrapping the wicks in them,and permitting them to dry; or,Idampen the wicks and envelop them in the bobbinet and permit them to dry; 'or, I cut the damp sheetof recomposed fiber into strips as soon as it issutilciently dry to permit this operation and envelop them in the bobbinct and permit them to dry. The gum or starch with'which the bobbinet is dressed, as found in the mar- While the sheet of pulp is wet I cover it with" asheetof thin bobbinet or similar gauze made of cotton, and I cover this gauze'with an additional quantity of pulp equal to the first deposit, so as to form a compound sheet of pulp I r and gauze, the latter within the former. The compound sheet, when thoroughly drained of water, is permitted to dry without pressure, and is then cut into strips of the, required length and breadth for wicks.

I sometimes combine silica witlimy wicking,

the effect of which is to lessen the formation of a crust while burning. The silica may be combined with the wicks in, the process of manufacture in either of the following ways: First, by mixing powdered asbestus with the fiber in the pulp'st-ate before it isspread upon the wire-gauze in the proportion of about one or two per cent. of the weight of the fiber when dried; secondly, by dipping the wicks or wicking in a saturated solution of the silicate 0f potassa or soda and permitting them to dry. I also sometimes combine powderedchareoal withmy wicking, the effect of which is tomakethe light more brilliant when the wick is'employed in kerosene-lamps.v The powdered charcoal may be combined with the wicks by dusting the wet sheet of recomposed fiber with the powdered charcoalbefore the bobbinet is applied to it, and when charcoal is used I prefer to apply it in such manner that it is 'within the wick, which may be done by makin g the wicks of two thicknesses in the mode above described, and dusting the first thick-' ness of fiber with the charcoal before or after the bobbinet is applied and before the second thickness of pulp is applied to the first.

Wicks or wicking made substantially as above set forth may be used for lamps or for any other purpose to which they are applicable; and, as they are not solidified by pressure or by a glutinous sizing, their highly-porous and open structure adapts th'em admirably to the transmission of the burning fluid from. the reservoir to the aperture of the wick-tube, where the burning takes place. Their form may be varied to suit the articular purpose required. As the wicks are composed of paper-stock, the cost of which. is greatly less than that of a fibrous material which issuitable for spinning and weaving,.tl1e cost of the article is considerably less than a plaited or" woven wick-of the same size.

What I claim as my invention aud desire DAVm'WmTmG, E. S. RENWIOK. 

